Installing Software Using GPOs On Windows Server 2008

Installing Software Using GPOs on Windows Server 2008
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By Gosia Grabowska November 11, 2008 Topics Mentioned Operating System(s): Server 2008 Imagine for a minute that your boss came in one day, gave you a Foxit DVD and said that everyone in your organization needs to get that DPF software thats on this DVD installed today. You think, well thats great but are you sure you want all 500 people to get the software today? Thats almost impossible, isnt it? There isnt enough time for you to walk around with the DVD and install it 500 times. Sure there is! But you wont be walking around with the DVD in your hand, thats for sure. The solution Im going to show you today is quite simple, and much less time consuming You are going to copy that software on a Shared Folder on your network. Then, youre going to create a Group Policy Object, aka GPO, (arent you happy you installed Active Directory?) that will take that software and install it on everyones machines. Easy, huh? Of course it is and it is not going to take you days, I promise.
What You Need Before Installing Software Using GPOs

There are 3 things you will need in order to have a successful Software Installation GPO: 1. The most important thing you will need is a Microsoft installer file, called .msi you cannot use the .exe file that is on the DVD. You will need to get a packaging utility to turn that .exe file into .msi file. Many of them are available for instant download from internet. There are a few that will cost money but there are also free downloads. Here is an example from each: MSI Studio (30 day free trial): http://www.scriptlogic.com/products/msi-studio/
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EXE-to-MSI: http://juice.altiris.com/download/1355/exe-to-msi 2. The second thing you will need to create is a Shared Folder on your network for the software to live in. You need to make sure that every computer has at least "read" access to that folder and its contents. 3. And the last thing you will need is the new Group Policy Object linked to the appropriate Organization Unit.
How to Install Software Using GPOs

Assuming that you already have the .msi file ready, lets start with creating a shared folder on our network. 1. Browse to the location on your network, right-click and select New, then Folder.
2. Name the folder in this example we are going to call it "Software". 3. Select that folder and then click on the Share button on the menu toolbar.
4. Like I mentioned above, every machine needs to have at least read access to this folder. To do this type in Everyone and hit enter, or click on the Add button.
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5. Make sure the Permission Level says Reader and then click the Share button.
6. Remember or write down the location of this shared folder. In our example the location is \\NY-MEM1-2K8\Software
7. Double click on the Shared Folder you just created and once again perform the steps to create a new folder.
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This time name the folder with a name specific to the software you are about to install. We are going to call it "Foxit".
8. Double click on the new folder ("Foxit") and copy and paste the .msi file for the software you want to install. Our .msi is called FoxitReader23.
9. Now it is time to switch to your domain controller. We are going to switch to our DC1 server. Once there, go ahead and open up Server Manager.
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10. Now you need to point to the Organizational Unit where the new Group Policy Object will reside. To start off, go ahead and expand Features, then Group Policy Management, and then your Forest. In our example it is the Globomantics.com forest. 11. Then expand Domains and then the domain in which you want to create the GPO. 12. Once you are in the correct domain, expand the Organizational Unit. In our example, we are expanding NewYorkOU. 13. Since we want the software to be installed on every single computer, we are going to create the Group Policy Object in our NYComputers Organization Unit. Go ahead and click on that OU.
14. To create a new GPO, right-click on the appropriate Organization Unit and select Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here
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15. Name your new GPO and hit OK.
16. To make sure the new GPO was created, go ahead and expand the Group Policy Objects. You should see your GPO listed there. That GPO is now being linked to our NYComputers OU.
17. Select and then right click on the GPO under the Organization Unit. Then select Edit.
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18. That should open a Group Policy Management Editor. 19. Go ahead and expand Computer Configuration, then Policies, and then Software Settings. 20. Next click on and select Software Installation.
21. Right click on the right side of the Software Installation, select New and then click on Package.
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22. Browse to the location where your software .msi file exists. In our example it is NY-MEM1-2K8 Software Foxit. Once you have located it, double click on the file or select it and then click on the Open button.
23. Select Assigned and click OK.
Testing
Before you actually go and test this on one of your client machines, do not forget to run a GPO Update. To do so, open up you command prompt on your Domain Controller and type in gpupdate /force.
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Once the update ran through you can go to one of your clients and restart the machine. Keep in mind that in order for the software to be installed on a computer, you will need to do a hard reboot. Now go ahead and relax for the rest of your day.
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About the Author Gosia Grabowska (MCTS Active Directory, MCTS Vista, Network+, Linux+, Project+, PMP) is an experienced Network Support Specialist and an expert in Windows Server support. She graduated from DePaul University, Chicago with a Bachelor degree in Network Technologies with highest honors. Gosia has over 8 years of technical and support experience and has worked as Systems Administrator for a high profile law firm, where she managed the Backup and Disaster Recovery plan. Gosia has been a part of the Train Signal team since 2006 as the Product Manager and has written many articles on a variety of topics, including Exchange Server 2007, Windows Vista, Small Business Server, and more.
Discussion
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Add a comment...
Deepak Pattanaik SCCM ENGINEER at Microsoft India R&D Pvt. Ltd. Hey Gosia how can we force the installation on the client machine..in my environment I can see the available programs but they are not getting instaled automatically. Reply Like March 23 at 12:16am Bigirindavyi Phil Francis Works at Pizza Delivery Boy u shud run gpupdate /all on command line Reply
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